Hi. I just need suggestions as to what to do. My husband was an f1 student and worked for the same company since 2006. In 2006 and 2007, he was supplied with a w2 in 2008, he was supplied with a 1099 and now the IRS claims that we owe thousands of dollars. The employer should have filed w2 and I truly believe that they filed the 1099 on him (and others in the similar situation) intentionally, so that they wouldn't have to pay taxes. The other issue is that the employer highly overstated the amount that they actually paid him, making us responsible for far greater amount of taxes. So far, I have researched and come up with the following options:
ask the employer to correct this or pay this off. (we did and they refuse to do anything)

file an ss8 form with the irs. we are about 99.99% certain that they should have never filed a 1099. My husband was NOT an independent contractor according to the IRS classifications.

What do you think would happen to us if we filed the ss8?

We know that we have to pay taxes, and we are willing too, however, I don't think what they did was fair to anyone and this company has been taking advantage of it's 'less educated' employees as well as the govt.

Thank you

When did your spouse enter U.S. on F-1? Which return did he file for 2008?
On what line and how did he report the 1099-misc income?

About SS-8. You must figure out if your spouse will actually pay more tax by getting 1099-misc instead of W-2 or not. When you are a W-2 employee, the employer withholds taxes from your paycheck. http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/03/w2-or-1099-employee-or-independent.html

He went from b-2 to f-1 in 2006. He didn't file taxes in 2008, he didn't understand what the 1099-misc was and chose to ignore it. Now that he has a wife to nag him about it, we are trying to correct this. The income was reported on line 7 of the 1099.
Thank you for your response.

As F-1 student you do not pay SE tax on 1099-misc income.
You will report your income and business related expenses on schedule C or C-EZ (Form 1040). Then you put net income (or loss) on line 12 of Form 1040. Your U.S. Tax Return: Tax Filing by Self Employed Sole Proprietor or Independent Contractor (http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/04/tax-filing-by-self-employed-sole.html)